We had a couple of sunny days with temps in the 70s and today we are back to ‘seasonal’ temps in the 40s with rain. The warmer sunny days allowed us to do more work in the yard, cleaning up fall debris, hauling it to the street, and cutting the trumpet vine back to within 2-3 feet from the ground. 

Over the years the vine had developed a nice thick multi-branched trunk. However, the dead White Pine stump that had supported the vine for 10 years, blew over in the last big wind storm,  causing it to sag to the ground. On inspection we discovered much dead wood among the various vines.

So we cut it back, David yelling the whole time that I was ruining his shoulder once more, and bringing up the wood chipper yet again.  When he begins this complaint, I remind him that I had lived in apartments and condos for many years before I met him, and that it was his idea to buy a house with a yard.

‘That was 30 years ago’ he says. True enough but he will bring up the wood chipper….

The yard was mostly my responsibility for many years until I wrecked my back slinging 50 lb bags of pea gravel to build the lower walkway. These days, I don’t sling gravel anymore, I hire a fellow to help me.

But Seth won’t come again until after Thanksgiving, and then he has other tasks to complete, including refurbishing the lower walkway with pea gravel.

Meanwhile, his crew cut the trumpet vine back when the were last here, but not enough, apparently, as it collapsed. The boys had carved a nice overhang for our bench, but the ‘hurricane’ a few weeks back ruined it.  

The county is collecting leaves and other yard debris Nov. 17, so we had to act before the boys return in December.

We worked on the trumpet vine all day, and next summer it will once again send out runners to cover the back fence.  Hummingbirds love the vine and cutting it back insures new and healthy growth to provid nectar for their migration.

As a kid, I love this native vine which withstood hot summers in the South.  

From Wiki: 

Campsis radicans (trumpet vine or trumpet creeper, also known in North America as “cow itch vine” or “hummingbird vine”), is a large and vigorous deciduous woody perennial vine of the family Bignoniaceae, notable for its showy trumpet-shaped flowers. It is native to woodlands and riverbanks of the southeastern United States.

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Over the years, I have planted as many native plants as I could, and replaced imported pests that displace the native flora so loved by native fauna.

After my nature loving granddaughter Joy told me about them, David and I planted a Fothergilla in the front yard which takes on a lovely color in the fall. Our subject is named ’Mt Airy’ and although a native of the South, this variety was developed by a Michael Dirr a botanist in NC.  Below is my beautiful Fothergilla, a bright spot in an otherwise grey day.